It’s hard to keep up the communist rhetoric when you’ve got Gucci. Harder still with millions of farmers struggling to scratch out a living while China’s select few live the good life. Beijing is hip to the growing class tensions, however, and will start subsidizing a national pension for rural workers.

BBC:

The government will pay for basic insurance for rural workers and farmers will contribute to a pension pot.

There is widespread discontent among China’s rural poor about the wide disparity between their income compared to that of urban residents.

The government already operates a basic pension plan for urban workers.

Read more

WAIT BEFORE YOU GO...

This year, the ground feels uncertain — facts are buried and those in power are working to keep them hidden. Now more than ever, independent journalism must go beneath the surface.

At Truthdig, we don’t just report what's happening — we investigate how and why. We follow the threads others leave behind and uncover the forces shaping our future.

Your tax-deductible donation fuels journalism that asks harder questions and digs where others won’t.

Don’t settle for surface-level coverage.

Unearth what matters. Help dig deeper.

Donate now.

SUPPORT TRUTHDIG